Author: Cai Wanzhen
Preface
Have you heard of the word " flow "? Maybe you have heard of it but are very strange... "I was super flowing when I was working today!"
"Day, I really hope to get back to that kind of flow experience!"
In recent years, we have heard people talk about the word "flow". What is "flow"? Let’s get to know this special and attractive experience together!
What is flow?
psychologist Professor Mihaly (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) has described this mental state of human beings, including " This is a special mental state. Individuals will be extremely focused and immersed in things in their hands, and their efficiency and reaction ability will improve, and may even make people forget time, forget hunger, and ignore all physical signals. For example, sometimes we will say, "Oh my God, I did so many things one morning! Time is almost noon all at once." "Wow, I actually completed this task so focused and efficiently!" If this was your voice, and when you say these words, you also have a slight pleasure and pride, congratulations, you may have just experienced a flow state! What benefits can
flow state bring us?
Improve happiness
In the process of flow, almost all the worries disappear, only "investment and concentration".
This does not mean that in the present of flow, there are no worries in life, but during this period of flow, we can truly devote ourselves to the things we have in our hands, rather than worrying about the future or thinking about other things that have not been solved yet. In other words, if you have more time to enter the flow state, you will feel less "troubles and worries" in your daily life, and of course your sense of happiness will increase accordingly.
Improve the quality of life
Enter the state of "flow", allowing us to concentrate on what we are completing. This process alone is actually high-quality life experience!
Just imagine, if you are doing something in your hands, worrying about ten other things that have not been completed, or even other tasks that have not yet arrived, your spirit must be tense and restless! The current nerves must be both sensitive and easy to be hooked, which often makes us lose patience with people and things, and even affects the physiological state of appetite, even sleep, etc.
Therefore, the state of "flow" can allow us to focus more on the present, rather than being bound by the past that has not arrived or cannot be turned back. Isn't this the life we would want to pursue?
Improve the quality of interpersonal interaction
In interpersonal interaction, we unconsciously think and decide how we "should we respond" from the other person's expressions, attitudes, tone, and conversation content. This actually requires the high degree of brain operation. Therefore, in social or party, we often think about "when can it end", or feel exhausted after the end. In the current era of 3C, even if it is a gathering of friends, it is easy to be busy with their own mobile phones, and the feeling of emptiness after the party arises naturally.
However, if we enter the state of "flow", we can let go of our caution in the relationship, fear of being inappropriate and offensive, and we can have "any words can be said, and thoughts and feelings can flow naturally and sincerely, without worrying about whether we offend the other party, or whether we will make a mistake, and can truly enjoy this dialogue process." There is a saying that "the quality of relationships is the quality of life", so flow can also greatly improve relationships and quality of life.
How to create a flow state in life?
Have you ever experienced flow in life?
You may be curious about how to achieve the flow state?
Next, I want to share with you. The current research has proposed several conditions that are more likely to enter the flow state. If you want to try flow, you might as well follow the following suggestions!
Choose something that is not rejected, challenging, but not beyond our ability.
It is too easy to distract us; things that are too difficult will make us want to give up.
Therefore, if you want to create flow experience, you need to choose something you like and is a little difficult. This challenge needs to be about 10% higher than your original ability. Under such difficulty, you need to focus and invest, and you will not feel powerless or frustrated because it is too difficult.
You must have a clear goal and know roughly how to do
In the selected thing, you need to have a clear goal or direction, such as "find ten reference materials", "complete this report", or "reply this week's email". If you are more clear about the goals in this period of time, it can help us focus more on the things at hand.
Therefore, at the beginning, please set a clearer phased task for yourself first!
screen eliminates external interference and creates an environment that can concentrate as much as possible
In the process of completing a thing, many people recognize that the biggest enemy is "distraction". The psychologist who even proposed "flow" said that when a task is completely interrupted, it will take more than 20 minutes to completely return to its previous state.
Therefore, in the flow experience, excluding all possible distractions as much as possible can make the flow experience longer! Including "creating a quieter space or only a little background sound, cutting off the network, moving the phone away, and setting a time limit for doing things", all can reduce the occurrence of distractions.
flow can also be used at work
flow state, not only limiting tasks in daily life, but many professions are all through the help of flow experience and reaching milestones in their careers! Let’s take a look together. For example:
Athlete
2 Super Marathon World Champion Ellie Greenwood described himself during running as follows: “When I entered the flow of my heart during the running process, the feeling was like being integrated with the surrounding environment, and the running movements became very natural, not relying on consciousness. Time passed like this!” In other words, this kind of unity of body and mind, full concentration, and completely immersed in the present can naturally show the best performance. Yang Yongwei, a player in
, the Tokyo Olympics silver medal, also said: "I will tell myself not to think about anything else, focus on facing opponents. Every game is a new beginning, and no one knows what the result will be, so I just need to focus on the game with all my heart." Compared to the past, I was easily distracted and entangled with wanting to win and win cards because of my efforts to be perfect, now he realizes the importance of concentration.
Musician
Many music creators have said that "when creating music, you will experience a kind of ecstasy, and the concert will naturally flow out of your mind, and this process requires almost no thinking." So are performers or conductors. Although they have mastered performance skills and conductors, once they go on stage, integrate into the stage and put down the idea of "thinking about how to perform better", they are often the essence of a good performance! This also requires the ability to rely on the "flow" to allow musicians and creators to fully devote themselves to this world of art.
What is the difference between flow of mind and mindfulness ?
When it comes to flow, people often think of "mindfulness", or think that mindfulness is flow.
In fact, in these two states, they will have a positive impact on our body and mind, including: decreased blood pressure, decreased inflammation index, and improved immunity and , which also make people feel healthier, happier and better interpersonal relationships. The main difference between "flow" and "mindfulness" is that the occurrence of flow requires many conditions. As mentioned above, it must be a bit challenging, like this matter, and have enough space to concentrate. However, in daily life, it is impossible for us to meet these conditions at all times.
, and mindfulness is a kind of psychological state of ", which can be experienced at all times as long as you have the will." Therefore, in addition to completing the things at hand, mindfulness emphasizes the ability to "take care of one's whole picture", including taking care of the body and emotions.
After all, it is impossible for us to always have challenging events in our lives, and it is difficult for us to always choose what we like to do. But as long as we can pay a little attention to the "current", it is natural that we will have a way to "stay awareness". Below
, we have made some comparisons of flow with mindfulness:
Is flow worth our pursuit?
After reading the introduction, are you also interested in "flow experience"? The feeling of flow is usually exciting and fulfilling. You might as well set some conditions for yourself and create some flow experience for yourself! However, if you only have "flow" in life and lack "awareness", you may become a state of "very good at doing things, but you may not remember to take care of yourself or even ignore other important things"!
Therefore, mindfulness is indeed an indispensable existence in the pursuit of flow; and the "always of awareness" emphasized by mindfulness can be integrated into and practiced in daily life! After seeing this, which experience attracts you?
Important explanation
This article belongs to the Chinese Mindfulness and Stress Relief Center, let us respect intellectual property rights together.
If you need to reprint it, please be sure to indicate the source!
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